Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has pleaded with Ifon Orolu, Ilobu and other neighbouring communities to embrace dialogue and allow peace to reign in their domain..
Adeleke while addressing the communities at separate meetings with royal fathers and community leaders in the affected towns harped on peace as a condition for development, reaffirming the resolve of his administration to find a lasting solution to the recurring conflict.
The Governor who was accompanied by heads of security agencies and top officials were at Ilobu, Ifon and Erin Osun, reviewing the outcome of the previous security meetings with the royal fathers and community leaders in the affected towns.
A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed stated that in each of the towns, the traditional leaders submitted their own version of the stories and their preparedness to submit a list of members of the peace committee set up at the State Security stakeholders meeting.
According to him, the interactive session further provided the state government with clearer perspectives on the conflict and further equipped the state security leadership with better insights into conflict de-escalation and ongoing peace building among the communities.
The Governor reassured the communities that he has identified several factors responsible for the confrontation namely lack of trust among the community leaders, non- existence of inter-communal peace structures, involvement of criminal elements and infiltration by external forces from within and outside the state.
He told the local leaders and town people that he is committed to the implementation of the resolutions reached at the stakeholders’ meeting and challenged all signatories to abide by the conclusions.
